THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ZURICH, Switzerland — The International Ice Hockey Federation will introduce a new format at the 2012 world championships in Finland.
The new structure calls for 16 nations playing in two groups of eight to decide which teams progress to the quarter-finals.
The current format uses four-team preliminary-round groups with 12 countries advancing to a qualifying round before the quarter-final lineup is determined.
The qualifying round proved unpopular with fans who could not be sure where their team would play.
The new format will create a 64-match tournament compared to 56 in the current setup that will be used for the last time in Slovakia next year.
The IIHF also says Denmark, Russia and Ukraine are bidding to host the 2016 world championships.
